The 20 Cent coin was one of the shortest-lived of all U.S. coinage types, with a brief period of production from 1875 through 1878. During that time, the “double dime,” as some called the coin, saw widespread rejection from the public because it was easily confused with the quarter and was seen by some as redundant since two dimes could easily fill the role served by the 20 Cent coin. Collectors know the 20 Cent piece to be a scarce type in general, with even the most “common” of issues, the 1875-S, retailing for nearly $200 in a grade of G04.
Fewer than a dozen different issues were struck across business strike and proof offerings. All of these are variously rarer than the 1875-S, which is a usual target for both set collectors and type set collectors alike. The rarest of these is the 1876-CC, with a reported mintage of 10,000 strikes. Most of these are believed to have been melted at the U.S. Mint. The melting was done at the request of Director of the U.S. Mint Henry Linderman, who on March 19, 1877, ordered Carson City Mint Superintendent James Crawford to melt all 20 Cent coins held by the facility.
There is no known record describing which coins were melted as a result of Linderman’s order. However, it is believed by many numismatic scholars that the lion’s share of the coins destroyed in that melting were 1876-CC 20 Cent coins. The coin is extremely rare today – much more so than even its diminutive mintage of 10,000 coins may suggest.
PCGS estimates that between only 12 and 20 specimens exist, and the majority of these are in uncirculated grades. Given that the majority of the existing 1876-C 20 Cent coins are in Mint State grades, some numismatic scholars wonder if the coins that escaped melting may have been part of a government assay. However, there is no way to know for certain, especially in absentia of any official records shedding more light on the matter.
What is certain is the incredible rarity of the 1876-CC 20 Cent coin today. It’s without a doubt one of the most valuable circulation-strike U.S. coins of the 19th century. The coin was already achieving substantial premiums even in 1890, when the first publicly recorded sale of the coin garnered $7. Today, an example in any grade is worth well into the six figures. A specimen in MS64, where the plurality of examples grade, has a value approaching $700,000. The all-time record for the coin was set in 2022, when a PCGS-encapsulated example graded MS65 hammered for $870,000.